Top Oakland County officials said they will continue the fight against national mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a years-long court battle accusing the lenders of owing Michigan millions of dollars tied to the state transfer tax.

After a lawsuit decision against the housing behemoths was reversed Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals, county Treasurer Andy Meisner and representatives from other counties said Fannie and Freddie “can’t have it both ways.”

The issue at hand, said Meisner, is whether the companies — which both went public less than 30 years after their creation — are on the hook for, or are exempt from, paying taxes on deeds claimed in the county.

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The issue was taken to court in 2011 by Meisner and a group of attorneys representing surrounding regions, claiming that the companies were not exempt from Michigan real estate transfer tax because they were private firms with boards of directors that were also traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The companies claimed they didn’t have to pay the tax, because they are exempt under federal law as government organizations.

Word of the lawsuit spread and set in motion other litigation across the country. A similar issue was heard in a New York state district court, but the court sided with the housing giants.

While the U.S. District Court in Detroit saw it from the perspective of the counties — that the lenders owe Michigan millions of dollars tied to the taxes — Monday’s decision overturned that opinion, siding with Fannie and Freddie.

Meisner — whose lawsuit was the first of its kind across the nation — said Monday that Oakland County is not swayed.

“We’ve got the weight of evidence on our side,” said Meisner. “We’re hoping that the (U.S.) Supreme Court picks it up and sees it our way.”

The companies, which are known by half-acronyms of their original names — the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie) — were created during The Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and after the Vietnam War, respectively. Fannie went public in 1968, Freddie in 1989. Now, both companies own the majority of the mortgages in America.

With the shifting definition of what type of companies these were over the years, said Meisner, the companies can’t be both private and government entities.

But 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David McKeague said the defendants — which also include the Federal Housing Finance Agency — were “expressly exempted ... from ‘all taxation’” by a Congressional statute.

In his opinion, McKeague wrote that the statutes exempting the companies from the real estate transfer taxes were clear, and not up for interpretation.

“We doubt that Congress would have said (Fannie and Freddie) were exempt from ‘all taxation’ if it only meant they were exempt from personal property taxes,” McKeague said.

The state portion of the tax is $7.50 for each $1,000 in value of the property. Oakland County charges $1.10 for each $1,000. Both amounts are set by local statute.

Meisner and Oakland County believes there are hundreds — possibly thousands — of deeds recorded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with improperly claimed exemptions. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s inappropriate use of exemptions has saved the lenders and cost Oakland County at least $250,000 per year, said local officials in a Monday release.

The county has 90 days to file an appeal challenging the appeals court’s decision.

“(We) will be exercising that right,” said Meisner. “We almost expected this would happen ... (we) never expected this to be an easy fight.”

If the Supreme Court picks up the case and agrees with the county, Michigan stands to recover more than $10 million and Oakland County more than $1.5 million in unpaid taxes.